This federal Project Grant award of $820,449, provided by the National Institute on Aging under the Aging Research program (CFDA 93.866), aims to develop and validate novel measurement tools to quantify the financial hardship experienced by individuals living with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) and their family caregivers. The key products and services to be delivered under this grant include: Qualitative interviews and focus groups to identify the financial hardship...
This $1,933,556 Project Grant awarded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) under its Aging Research program (CFDA 93.866) will support research to assess the impact of hospital-based health information technology (hospital-HIT) on healthcare quality and equity for patients with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). The primary awardee, the University of Maryland, College Park, will conduct a ten-year longitudinal study to evaluate how hospital-HIT systems that promote care...
This $334,788 Project Grant awarded by the National Institute on Aging (CFDA 93.866 - Aging Research) aims to investigate the impact of recent revisions to the Medicare home health payment system (Patient-Driven Groupings Model or PDGM) on access, care delivery, and outcomes for community-living Medicare beneficiaries with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). The 2-year study, starting September 1, 2023, will leverage Medicare claims, home health assessment, and agency data to:...
The National Institute on Aging (NIA) awarded a $1,010,368 Project Grant under the Aging Research program (CFDA 93.866) to Koronis Biomedical Technologies Corporation (KBT) to develop and validate an interactive gaming platform that facilitates cognitive interventions for individuals living with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), Alzheimer's disease (AD), and other related dementias (ADRD). The goal of the proposed research is to create an in-home cognition training system that provides...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute on Aging (CFDA 93.866 - Aging Research) to B.A. Maze, Inc. for $811,228 aims to advance the design and development of the At-Home Health Station (AHS) system. The AHS is a plug-and-play, modular technology platform that simplifies digital experiences for individuals with cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (CI/ADRD). The goal is to enable long-term independence and health for this population through remote patient...
The Department of Health and Human Services' National Institute on Aging provided $2,340,878 under its Aging Research program (CFDA 93.866) to assess the long-term impact of expanded telemedicine use on dementia care. The Regents of the University of California, San Francisco will conduct a sequential mixed-methods study from 2022-2025 to characterize dementia patients' telemedicine use in Kaiser Permanente Northern California and UCSF Health primary care settings. The study will analyze...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute on Aging (CFDA 93.866 - Aging Research) to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic aims to modify and evaluate an existing online platform called iPATH*D. The goal is to connect caregivers of people living with Alzheimer's disease or related dementias who screen positive for depression to evidence-based mental health treatments. The $170,593 award will fund activities to optimize the platform's screening and referral pathway, as well as assess its...
This Project Grant award of $1,588,040 from the National Institute on Aging (CFDA 93.866 - Aging Research) aims to examine the use of home-based medical care (HBMC) and telemedicine among community-living persons with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (PLWD) enrolled in public and private Medicare plans. The study will identify national trends in HBMC and telemedicine use, and rigorously evaluate their impact on PLWD outcomes such as treatment, medication management, acute care...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute on Aging (CFDA 93.866 - Aging Research) provides $311,341 to the University of Southern California to assess cost and non-cost barriers to the use of novel Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementia (ADRD) therapeutics among older Hispanic or Latino adults. The project involves two main phases. The first phase will conduct semi-structured interviews with a cohort of Latino adults and Latino patients with AD/ADRD and their caregivers to...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute on Aging (CFDA 93.866 - Aging Research) provides $775,512 to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, WA to develop a suite of financial hardship screening measures for individuals with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD) and their caregivers. The project aims to identify key indicators of financial hardship unique to AD/ADRD, explore how social and caregiver networks affect hardship, and create Item Response...
AN EHEALTH PLATFORM TO FACILITATE FINANCIAL UNDERSTANDING AND LEGAL PREPARATION FOR PATIENTS WITH DEMENTIA AND THEIR CAREGIVERS - PROJECT SUMMARY ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE IS ESTIMATED TO AFFECT 5.8 MILLION AMERICANS IN 2020; PROJECTED TO RISE TO NEARLY 14 MILLION BY 2050. IN ADDITION TO ITS DEVASTATING EFFECTS ON QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF LIFE, THE DISEASE CREATES FINANCIAL RISKS FOR PATIENTS ACROSS THE SOCIOECONOMIC SPECTRUM. DIFFICULTY MANAGING FINANCES IS ONE OF THE EARLIEST SIGNS OF DEMENTIA, AND MOST PEOPLE WILL FULLY LOSE THE CAPACITY TO MANAGE FINANCES WITHIN A FEW YEARS OF DEVELOPING THE DISEASE. UNPAID FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND OTHER NON-PROFESSIONAL CAREGIVERS PROVIDE THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE CARE TO OLDER ADULTS IN THE UNITED STATES, 48% OF WHICH IS TO OLDER ADULTS WITH DEMENTIA. AMONG CAREGIVERS, EDUCATION LEVELS AND INCOME ARE MODEST, AS 60% OF DEMENTIA CAREGIVERS HAVE A HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION OR LESS, AND 41% PERCENT HAVE A HOUSEHOLD INCOME OF $50,000 OR LESS. MOST HAVE LIMITED LEGAL AND FINANCIAL LITERACY, AND, LACKING UNDERSTANDING OF THE NATURE AND RESOURCES AVAILABLE, DO NOT SEEK HELP UNTIL AFTER THEY DISCOVER SERIOUS MISTAKES, FINANCIAL EXPLOITATION, OR MISMANAGEMENT. DIGITAL SOLUTIONS HAVE THE POTENTIAL FOR WIDE REACH, AND CAN BE ACCESSIBLE, HIGHLY USABLE, AND EFFECTIVE AT PROMOTING PLANNING AND DOCUMENTATION WITH PATIENTS AND CAREGIVERS. INTERNET ACCESS AND USAGE IN THE US IS BECOMING UBIQUITOUS, AN ALTHOUGH OLDER ADULTS LAG, THEIR USAGE IS INCREASING AT A FASTER PACE THAN MOST OTHER AGE GROUPS. OUR PRIOR WORK SHOWS THAT DIGITAL PROGRAMS CAN BE DESIGNED TO BE USABLE AND EFFECTIVE FOR THESE POPULATIONS. WE PROPOSE TO BUILD AND TEST A WEB-BASED PLATFORM FOR EDUCATING PATIENTS AND CAREGIVERS ABOUT FINANCIAL RISKS, STRATEGIES THEY CAN UNDERTAKE, AND THE SPECIFIC LEGAL PREPARATIONS THEY CAN MAKE; FACILITATING COMPLETION OF LEGAL DOCUMENTS IN COORDINATION WITH LEGAL PROFESSIONALS; AND ENHANCING COMMUNICATION ABOUT FINANCIAL AND LEGAL ISSUES WITH HEALTH PROFESSIONALS. WE WILL DEVELOP, ASSESS, AND REFINE A SET OF COMPREHENSIVE DESIGN DOCUMENTS WITH MEMBERS OF FOUR PRIMARY STAKEHOLDER GROUPS - PATIENTS, CAREGIVERS, LEGAL PROFESSIONALS, AND HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS; BUILD THE PLATFORM; AND CONDUCT A TEST TO ASSESS USABILITY AND SATSFACTION AMONG PATIENTS AND CAREGIVERS WHO USE THE PLATFORM.